Monday, July 1, 2013

I had previously blogged about Installing Minecraft on Ubuntu. As of Minecraft version 1.6 these instructions no longer work because of a newly introduced launcher. The following is updates instructions for version of Minecraft 1.6 and above.

First we need to install Java. The website claims it needs Oracle Java, but the open source Java in the Ubuntu repos works just fine in my experience.

Now you should be able to play Minecraft by simply typing minecraft in the command-line, in the Unity dash, the KDE prompt, or by browsing to the games menu in the applications menu in your desktop environment of choice. It is also available to all users of your desktop.

You also do not need to do anything to update. Minecraft updates itself each time you start it.

BONUS

I've got one more neat trick up my sleeve. If a CraftBuntu spin sounds good to you, here's how you can setup Ubuntu to just run Minecraft when you sign in. It assumes you have already done the above.

Now Minecraft is an available option when you select your desktop environment. This works best if you set Fullscreen in the Minecraft options.

You could do a number of things with this setup. You could setup a minimal Ubuntu installation that has no desktop environment, or other desktop-related software installed. You could also allow guests to play Minecraft without touching any of your stuff by them selecting the Ubuntu guest account and setting Minecraft for the login. I have even found that on my struggling laptop this setup allows Minecraft to run more smoothly as there is no other desktop cruft running in the background.

UPGRADING FROM 1.5

If you had already followed my instructions back in the days before 1.6, the following will get you updated to 1.6

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